By 
As the US Patent Office starts a reexamination of two Apple patents, including one covering pinch-to-zoom, Samsung has requested a stay of the pairs’ 2014 trial pending the completion of the USPTO’s review. Apple has responded saying that such a delay in the trial would be “unwarranted and prejudicial.”
While Samsung believes the whole process of review should take no longer than 18 months — still a rather long delay — Apple has gone over recent data concerning the timeframe a typical patent review is completed within and projects it could take until the middle of 2017 to get a final answer. At that point, the trial, which will be the second hearing concerning patent infringement to take place in the same California court where Judge Lucky Koh ruled largely in Apple’s favor last summer, would concern such outdated software and devices that it would be moot.
Avoiding a delay is favorable to Apple, as Samsung could still be found responsible of patent infringement despite the current state of a review by the USPTO. Until a final decision has been made on whether or not to invalidate a patent, the technology described remains the intellectual property of Apple.
In related news, Samsung has filed their opposition to Apple’s request that Judge Koh reconsider dropping $85 million in damages related to the Infuse 4G and Galaxy S2. Judge Koh had overruled a jury’s decision to include the two devices in a $1 billion dollar verdict reached last year. The money could swing back in Apple’s favor.
[via Electronista]
Between pinch to zoom and this http://phandroid.com/2013/03/28/apple-wrap-around-display-patent/ I can’t keep up with the smartphone patent race
The difference is design. The wrap around display would make Apple very different from its competitors at first glance. That IS something I think is ok to patent. Pinch to zoom, swipe gestures, and so on are natural motions that people would associate with navigation. If anything, the director/writer of Minority Report should be able to sue Apple, as I remember, Tom Cruise was using strecthing out images to make them bigger.
Apple should be invalidated
By the time these trials end aapl will be $3/share.
This Judge should be thrown off this case. Her rulings all suck. I believe she is bias and Samsung should file something in this matter. She is not being fair at all. The only big cases Apple is winning is in the USA, all European cases Apple is loosing. Something isn’t right. Apple’s stock prices have gone account today.
How do you even patent a motion carried out by your fingers? Does that mean I can patent the salute?
Only if the action of saluting produces a zoom in or zoom out effect on an electronic device’s display.
Which comes back to the premise that you are not supposed to be able to patent an idea. You can patent the special coding that make it work, sure… but that doesn’t mean you can sue others who come up with the same result after applying their own version of code to make that happen.
If that’s the case, then everyone that has ever invented something can sue everyone else who has ever invented something.
You’re talking about something being a standard.
But I’m not really arguing… TheUSPTO is ridiculous…
Yes indeed.